Torchlight procession to honor Bandera taking place in Kyiv

A torchlight procession on the occasion of the 105th birth anniversary of Leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) Stepan Bandera is taking place in the center of Kyiv.

A column of more than a thousand people took off from the Kozatsky Hotel along Mykhailivska Street to Mykhailivska Square, and came out to Volodymyrska Street almost blocking the traffic, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.

The column is headed by Leader of the Svoboda All-Ukrainian Union Oleh Tiahnybok, members of the Svoboda faction Ihor Miroshnychenko, Andriy Illenko and others, two priests, and a girl in national costume, who is carrying Bandera's portrait.

Many participants of the procession are carrying burning torches, national banners, flags of the Svoboda party, and red-and-black flags. Some are carrying flower bouquets.

They are chanting "Glory to Ukraine - Glory to Heroes!" They are carrying banners with the inscriptions "Ukraine Above All", "Let's Recognize OUN, Recognize Stepan Bandera as a Hero of Ukraine."

Bandera, born on January 1, 1909, was a Ukrainian political activist who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which fought for Ukraine's independence from Polish, Russian and other foreign invaders. Bandera was killed by KGB agent Bohdan Stashynsky in Munich on October 15, 1959.